Saudi Arabia pumped large spare oil capacity to save market during COVID-19: Al Falih

Minister of Investment Khaled Al-Falih

The Kingdom pumped large amounts of its spare oil production capacity to save the market from unpredictable conditions during the coronavirus crisis, the decline in production following the US policies and the impact of sanctions in other countries, said Minister of Investment Khaled Al-Falih.

The spare production capacity was set to be isolated from the normal production, Al-Falih said, indicating that the spare production capacity has become less than its initial levels before pumping compared to the fixed level set by the Kingdom in its estimates.

The minister referred to the directions of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who took practical measures to increase the Kingdom's nameplate capacity to 13 million barrels per day (bpd).

The Saudi leadership took exceptional measures at the local level, Al-Falih said, indicating that the Kingdom will abide by its commitments and will raise its production capacity to 13 million bpd when needed.